This invention relates to a gutter system for houses or buildings, and more particularly to a gutter system which may be emptied remotely.
Gutter systems on houses and buildings are hampered by the accumulation of debris, such as leaves, roofing material silt, etc., which clog the gutters and hamper their performance in the orderly conduction of water from the roof of the house or building. The accumulation of such debris clogs the gutters and downspouts, and the water which is normally conducted therethrough overflows down the side of the building which can cause rot and mildew damage. Another difficulty is experienced when freezing weather tends to pile up ice and snow in the gutters to the extent that water run-off is impeded rather than assisted, resulting in leakage through the roof to the interior, and gradual rotting of the roof material and inner structure. The undue weight of the ice is also likely to damage the gutter itself, and seriously weaken its attachment to the building.
Various methods have been used for the cleaning of gutters. The most common of which is to do so manually from a ladder or from the roof on which the gutter is mounted, where the roof has a shallow pitch. Both methods are inconvenient and often dangerous to the home or building owner. Inexperience, uneven footing for tall ladders, slippery roofing or lose shingles, and insect nests, such as hornets and wasps, can make such manual cleaning an unpleasant and hazardous undertaking.
Screens and other guards have been mounted over gutters in an attempt to prevent such debris from being deposited therein. However, in actual practice debris still finds its way into the gutters, especially roofing material silt; the screens become clogged or covered over with leaves; they become rusty or otherwise become disconnected from the gutters; and they hamper manual attempts to clean the gutters where the screens are clogged or covered over.
The prior art has various gutter systems that have proposed clearing debris by dumping. Typical of those proposed include U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,669,232; 4,226,057; 4,117,635; 4,072,285; 4,061,151; 3,630,473; 3,507,078; 3,091,055; 1,141,204; 984,716; 531,989; and 510,515. All propose some type of system which manipulates the entire gutter to dump debris out. The systems proposed are complicated, difficult to install and are generally unstable by not being directly connected to the house or building.